How Sitting in Traffic Can Improve Your Finances

May 23, 2017

Over the past few months, it feels like a cloud of transportation demons have settled over my poor city of Atlanta, Georgia. Over the past few months, a bridge on I-85, our major highway collapsed, a section of our second major interstate, I-20, buckled, and we had a sinkhole on Roswell Road, another major street. Atlanta has always been known to have traffic gridlock, so this series of events has taken many people’s already stressful commute to levels I questioned whether our city could survive.  My normally happy, mild-tempered friends started using words I never thought they’d say.

It got me to thinking about how many Americans spend hours each day getting to and from work and how much stress that must cause them. Of course then my mind turns to how I can help them escape this seemingly time-wasting activity, when it occurred to me that working on your money may be one of the best solutions: why not use that long commute frustration as motivation to up your financial game and find financial independence sooner? The best relief for traffic gridlock is never needing to sit in traffic again, so here are some ways to pass the time while hopefully moving yourself closer to financial freedom:

Audio books

Consider downloading financial audio books and listening to them while driving. You can check out this list of free places to download audio books. One of my personal favorites is Hoopla, who partners with many local libraries to provide free access to digital movies, music, eBooks and more, as long as you have a library card. If you’re not sure what books to read, use this great checklist from Business Insider. My personal favorite is listed as #1, written by Benjamin Graham, who was a professor at Columbia and counts Warren Buffet among his mentees.

Podcasts

If listening to an audio book is not your thing, then try listening to podcasts. US News & World Report, Entrepreneur and PlayerFM.com all offer great lists of suggestions. You can find a podcast that matches your driving distance or listen to a series while you creep along the interstate.

Putting it to work for you

As you listen, consider taking away one idea you will implement that week once your drive ends. It could be as simple as reviewing your 401k or checking your credit score. Bad memory?  Then use the voice recorder feature on your iPhone or Android to record your thoughts and takeaways from your drive to implement later.